No trip to the Pacific Northwest is complete without stopping to see the stereotypical sights like Pike Place Market, Mt. Rainier, the Cascade Mountains, towering waterfalls, and the Oregon Coast. But did you know that there is so much more to this region than glaciated volcanic peaks, massive trees, rushing rivers, and damp, moody days that make you want to turn on some 90s alternative music?
In this incredible region, you can also find city blocks hidden right beneath your feet, sprawling deserts, miles of sand dunes, forgotten mining towns, and miles of farms tending to crops that you probably didn’t realize were grown in this corner of the country.
So, let’s hit the road and discover some unexpected finds throughout the upper left corner of the United States.
Sprawling Deserts
The Pacific Northwest is known as being a rainy and lush place home to moss-covered trees and roofs. But once you pass over the Cascade Mountains into the eastern side of Washington or Oregon, the climate and landscapes quickly change from rainy and lush to sunny and barren. In fact, if you head deep into southeastern Oregon, you can even find the Alvord Desert, which is the bed of a long-ago dried-up lake that now stands as a natural wonder for its miles of perfectly flat surface. In this area, you’re more likely to spend your time in a canyon surrounded by sagebrush than you are in a forest.
Massive Redwoods
California is known to be home to the tallest trees on earth. But did you know that Oregon is also home to stands of Coastal Redwoods that rival those in their neighbor to the south? Redwoods thrive in a narrow band of land that is known as the fog belt that extends 450 miles from California up into southern Oregon. Here, the coastal fog settles into the low-lying valleys and produces the perfect growing environment for these giant trees.
In the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, you’ll find the mile-long Redwood Nature Trail, which winds through the forest and past 800+ year-old redwood trees that stand up to 250 feet tall! Not quite as tall as their cousins to the south but still impressive nonetheless.
Rolling Wheat Fields
Did you know that Washington grows the 4th most wheat out of any state in the country? Travelers who have driven through the wheat fields of Eastern Washington probably do as they go on for miles and miles and, in the spring, make up one of the most popular photography opportunities in the state.
The Palouse Hills in Eastern Washington is a gently rolling landscape covered in native grasses and wheat fields. In the spring, these fields turn green and, with the right light, create stunning photography opportunities. Odds are you have seen these photos once or twice without realizing you were looking at a picture of Washington State.
World Class Wineries
Ask most wine drinkers where the best wine in the world is made, and you’ll usually hear one of two answers: California or France. But did you know that Oregon and Washington are home to over 40 distinct wine-growing regions and that these places put out some of the best wine in the world?
Oregon’s Willamette Valley has made a worldwide name for itself with the incredible pinot noir that is produced here. These wines consistently take home top honors at wine events across the world and have become just as highly sought-after as varieties from California and France.
Head over to the eastern side of the region, and you’ll find Walla Walla, an equally distinguished wine-growing region specializing in bolder reds like Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Miles of Sand Dunes
We already know that the Pacific Northwest is home to massive deserts, but did you know that it also has some of the largest regions of coastal sand dunes in the world? These southern Oregon dunes stretch for over 40 miles from north to south and are a playground for explorers and OHV riders. These aren’t the only dunes in the state, as you can also find pockets of them throughout central and eastern Oregon.
Bavarian Towns
First-time visitors to Leavenworth might think they took a wrong turn around Seattle and ended up in another country. This town is situated high in the Washington Cascades and takes its Bavarian theme to the max with authentic building facades, beer halls serving up giant pretzels and steins of beer, and more polka music than you can shake a stick at.
The Bavarian sausages aren’t the only reason to visit Leavenworth, though, as it also serves as a basecamp for adventures into the nearby Enchantment Lakes wilderness.
Ghost Towns
The Pacific Northwest is filled with the remains of boom-to-bust towns of days past. These once-thriving towns dried up for a variety of reasons, like logging shutdowns, mines drying up, or new railroads diverting traffic. Today, you can explore these relics that are scattered around the region. You may find old mining equipment, abandoned houses, kilns hidden deep in the forest, or just a pile of rusty nails and near-dying fruit trees at the site of an old homestead.
Underground Cities
A few of the region’s coastal cities have seen huge changes in the layouts of their downtown areas over the last century or two. This has led to underground passageways and storefronts that once sat at street level and are now hidden from the public eye. Two notable examples are Seattle, Washington, and Astoria, Oregon.
Both of these cities moved their downtown streets up a level and left the old storefronts and streets to rot away in the dark. Today, you can tour these old passageways and see what life looked like 100 or so years ago in these maritime hubs.
Covered Bridges
Did you know that Oregon is home to approximately fifty covered bridges just waiting to be explored? Most of these are in out-of-the-way locations throughout the Willamette Valley and Oregon Cascades and the perfect stop on a road trip along the state’s less traveled roads.
